ROME — Tensions in Italy’s uneasy ruling coalition increased Wednesday as the government’s allies denounced an accelerated date for a high court decision that could see former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi banned for years from public office.

Although Berlusconi isn’t in the government himself, steady support from his center-right People of Freedom party is necessary to keep Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s 10-week-old government alive.

But Berlusconi’s allies hobbled Parliament’s work following the Court of Cassation’s decision to schedule an appeal in the media mogul’s tax fraud trial for July 30, months earlier than expected.